


Take Me Out

by setepenre_set



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Baseball, F/M, Pre-movie AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8102554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setepenre_set/pseuds/setepenre_set
Summary: The Metro City Wolverines are the worst team in the MLB. So Megamind, using the disguise watch to manage the stadium’s illegal betting pool, is understandably shocked when Miss Ritchi (at the stadium on a ‘date’ with Metro Man…and his mother) wants to place a bet that the Wolverines can win against the best ranked team in the league. But then, maybe the luck is turning for all of Metro City's underdogs…





	1. Chapter 1

“You’re not wearing blue,” Roxanne says.

“Uh, no?” Wayne says, looking down at his white polo shirt, “Why would I be?”

“It’s a Wolverines game!” Roxanne says, gesturing to the blue baseball tee, proudly emblazoned with the Metro City Wolverines logo, that she’s wearing. “What do you mean, why would you be? Come on, Wayne; it’s time to get into the game day spirit!”

“They’re the worst team in the National League, Roxy,” Wayne says.

“Hey!” Roxanne says sharply, grabbing her purse up from her kitchen counter, “don’t knock my team, Wayne. This is going to be our year; just wait and see.”

Wayne sighs a long suffering sigh.

“I can’t wait for football to start,” he says. “At least the Lions win sometimes.”

Roxanne shoots him a glare and leads the way out the door.

* * *

 

Wayne, of course, isn’t the only one who feels that way about Metro City’s baseball team. The Metro City Wolverines are, in inescapable fact, the worst team in the National League. Honestly, they’re the worst team in the entire MLB.

Metro City prides itself on winning; their baseball team is, to be perfectly frank, a bit of an embarrassment to everyone in the city except really die-hard fans.

People talk about the ‘blue curse’; there was actually a push a few years ago to change the team colors to something that wasn’t the same color as the other person in Metro City who’s famous for losing. The fans got up a petition in protest at the proposed change, though (Roxanne signed it) and the colors stayed.

* * *

 

Wayne’s mother isn’t wearing blue, either. And Wayne’s father has, evidently, declined to join them. Roxanne doesn’t regret his absence (she doubts she’s exchanged over two dozen words with the man the entire time she and Wayne have been fake-dating), but it does make things a little weird—instead of this being a ‘double date’ with Wayne’s parents, it feels like Wayne’s mother is chaperoning the two of them.

(as if they need chaperoning; please)

If this was anything but a Wolverines game, Roxanne would be tempted to fake a headache or something, and stay home. But there is no way Roxanne is passing up a ticket to a Wolverine’s home game, okay. No way.

* * *

 

Of course the Scotts have the best seats in the stadium even though they aren’t interested in baseball: field box seats on the first base line, five rows up—she can see the whole field, but they’re still so gloriously close to the players (who are on the field now, warming up). Roxanne is barely able to stop herself from bouncing in her seat with glee. Wayne looks bored and takes out his phone. His mother strikes up a conversation with an acquaintance in the row behind them.

“Hey,” Roxanne says to Wayne, “I’m gonna go get snacks before the game starts; do you want something?”

“Ugh, stadium food?” Wayne says, making a face.

Roxanne rolls her eyes and goes to search out some crackerjacks.

(and maybe place a bet, if she can find a bookie. Roxanne has a good feeling about this game.)

* * *

 

Megamind would be the first to admit that his position as Metrocity’s Master of All Villainy is not always a glamorous one.

Just now, for example, he’s holding a meeting with his head stadium bookies in a janitorial closet.

It is next to impossible to be properly intimidating in a janitorial closet; for one thing, there simply isn’t room. For another thing, the mop in the corner keeps trying to fall on him, and he’s been forced to keep it propped it up with one hand, which is severely cramping his style.

At least he had the foresight to make this a meeting with only the head bookies; they’ll have to pass the word along to their underlings themselves. There definitely isn’t room for everyone in here.

(this is, most likely, a waste of time; Megamind got a tip from one of his ticket scalpers that some of the stadium bookies were taking more than their fair cut of the vigorish, but Megamind is pretty sure the man just wanted to stir up trouble for no reason. But he finds it’s best to put the fear of Evil into his employees from time to time in any case. And it’s a good excuse to come to a game—definitely always worth it, even if crowds do tend to make Megamind feel a bit twitchy.)

“So,” Megamind says menacingly, gesturing with the mop handle for emphasis, “I do hope we are all very clear that—”

There is a knock on the closet door. For a moment, everyone is silent.

The knocking sounds again.

Megamind puts his hand on the handle of the de-gun (the hand that isn’t still holding up the mop) and motions to Shufty Liechester to see who is at the door.

Shufty opens the door a crack and looks through it.

“ _Tom_ ,” he says in an aggravated whisper, “what do you want? The Boss is talking right now, you idiot!”

The voice of Tom comes through the crack in the door—

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It’s just she won’t leave me alone! Says she wants to make a bet! I didn’t know what to do!”

There is a silence.

“Tom,” Shufty says patiently, “you’re a bookie. If someone wants to place a bet, that means you—”

“But it’s Her,” Tom wails in a whisper, “it’s the Boss’s girl!”

“—come again?” Megamind says in a quiet, deadly voice.

(he hasn’t got a girl; is this some sort of joke at his expense?)

Shufty sees the expression on Megamind’s face and gulps audibly.

“—aah, sorry, sir, Tom’s a bit of an idiot; he doesn’t mean any—”

“Oh, you know what I mean!” Tom says in a panicked undertone, “it’s Roxanne Ritchi and she followed me here; please let me in, Shufty—”

Shufty opens the door only slightly wider and hauls Tom inside. Megamind slams the door shut behind him and, on second thought, locks it. He wouldn’t put it past Roxanne to—

Sure enough, the handle jiggles.

“Hello,” he hears Roxanne’s voice on the other side of the door, “come on, is this a joke? I know you’re in there.”

“Let me get this straight,” Megamind says to Tom in a pleasant whisper. (Megamind smiles a slightly manic smile and Tom gibbers a bit) “—you, as an illegal bookie, were approached by a reporter—”

“—didn’t know what to do,” Tom says feebly.

“—so you decided to _lead her straight to the secret meeting of the leaders of the underground gambling ring?!_ ” Megamind concludes, gesticulating wildly (he still has the mop in that hand, which means that he ends up very nearly smacking himself in the face with the handle, but he recovers quickly and valiantly pretends that it didn’t happen.

Roxanne knocks impatiently on the closet door. Tom makes a pathetic noise as all of the other bookies present turn to look expectantly at Megamind, who grinds his teeth together and resists the urge to bang his giant blue head against the door repeatedly.

Why is everything always so much more difficult than it needs to be?!

* * *

 

Roxanne knocks on the door of the janitorial closet again. She frowns, hearing someone speak on the other side of the door. Is that—it sounds like—

She leans closer, pressing her ear to the door, and then stumbles and almost falls as the door is suddenly yanked open.

Someone catches her and Roxanne stands upright quickly, a little embarrassed.

The guy standing in front of her isn’t the same one who vanished into the closet. The one who hid in the closet had been wearing a suit—an ugly suit, but still, a suit—this one is dressed low slung jeans and a slightly ragged blue Wolverines hoodie.

Something—she doesn’t recognize him, but something about him—his posture, the tilt of his chin, the way he moves when he reaches behind himself to shut the closet door with a sharp snap—something about him seems oddly familiar. He reminds her of—

 _oh get a grip_ , Roxanne, she scolds herself. _you are not thinking about **him** today; you are here to watch baseball._

(she really needs to get over this _thing_ she has for Megamind; it’s starting to make her crazy; this guy looks nothing like him, Roxanne.)

“Can I help you, Miss Ritchi?” the man asks.

Roxanne takes a sharp breath, recognition jolting through her, because that voice—he sounds like—

She looks at him more closely, and sees what she missed at first glance: the color of his eyes, the lightning bolt pattern on his belt buckle, the way he tips his head— _Megamind’s logo on the face of his wristwatch_ —she is _not_ crazy, this is _Megamind_ and _how in the world did Megamind make himself look human?_

“You know who I am?” she asks, wondering if he can tell that she knows who he is—she doesn’t think so.

“Doesn’t everyone?” he asks, raising both eyebrows now—Megamind’s expression on a face that is not his own.

So he doesn’t know she recognizes him; should she let him know?

“Is that why your friend ran away from me?” she asks. “Because I’m a reporter? I kept trying to ask him for the odds but he wouldn’t give them to me.”

What was Megamind doing in a janitorial closet? Is it an evil plot of some kind? It doesn’t seem to be; if it was, he’d be kidnapping her now, not just standing her talking to her.

“Illegal betting?” Megamind asks, smiling a sharp smile, “tsk tsk. Whatever would your boyfriend think, Miss Ritchi?”

(if she tells him—if she tells him that she knows who he is, they’ll have to fall into their usual damsel/supervillain pattern of interaction, won’t they. She won’t be allowed to smile at him flirtatiously—like this—and step close to him—like that—and put her hand on his arm—like so—)

“Wayne,” she says, “disapproves of everything fun.”

Megamind laughs in a shocked way.

(she won’t be able to hear him laugh like that, not a theatrical supervillain cackle, but a real laugh)

“Come on,” Roxanne says, biting her lip and looking at Megamind appealingly (his gaze drops briefly to her mouth and Roxanne’s heart flutters just a little), “give a girl the odds on the long shot, yeah?”

Megamind glances down at her hand on his arm, but he doesn’t try to step away.

(both of them are too taken up with staring at each other to notice the closet door cracking open again)

“You really want to bet on the Wolverines beating the best ranked team in the league?” Megamind asks disbelievingly.

Roxanne shrugs, still smiling.

“I always did like the underdog,” she says, then adds, daringly, “especially the ones in blue.”

Megamind’s lips part.

Roxanne glances down at the shirt Megamind is wearing, then back up into his face, and arches an eyebrow.

“You’re wearing blue, I see,” she says, “don’t you think we can win?”

“I—never said I wasn’t a fan, Miss Ritchi,” Megamind says, “I just—find it’s best not to get my hopes up.”

“How depressing,” Roxanne says.

Megamind shrugs.

“I prefer ‘realistic’,” he says.

“Hmm,” Roxanne says critically. “Give me the odds, then, and let me prove you wrong.”

Megamind laughs.

“You don’t give up, do you, Miss Ritchi?” he says, shaking his head.

“Not when it’s something I really want,” Roxanne says. “And please—call me Roxanne.”

Megamind pauses for a moment.

“—six to one against,” he says, “Roxanne.”

“You’re on,” Roxanne says, repressing a shiver at hearing him call her by her name.

She gets her wallet out of her purse and takes out two twenties, offering them to him.

* * *

 

Megamind takes the two bills from Roxanne.

(he can feel his own heartbeat in his throat—she asked him to call her Roxanne—calm down, Megamind; she doesn’t know it’s you; it doesn’t mean anything)

“You’re very trusting,” he comments.

She grins at him and reaches out to put her hand on his arm again.

And this—this isn’t fair; Megamind isn’t prepared for this; how is he supposed to deal with something like Roxanne Ritchi with her hand on his arm and smiling at him (smiling! at him!) without being warned ahead of time?

“Not really,” she says, “I’m taking you back to sit with me.”

Megamind freezes for a moment and sees a touch of uncertainty creep into Roxanne’s expression.

“They’re good seats,” she says, sounding unsure, “I promise.”

(as though she’s trying to convince him, as though she thinks he’ll refuse, as though her presence isn’t temptation enough to defeat his better judgement.)

Megamind swallows.

“Won’t your boyfriend have something to say about that?” he asks, but he’s already offering his arm to her, letting her slide her hand around so that her arm is linked with his—god, oh god—

“Oh, no, see,” Roxanne says, opening her eyes up, wide and innocent, “I was in line at the concession stand when I just so happened to see my very good friend…” she pauses for a moment, clearly waiting for him to supply a name.

“Miguel,” Megamind says.

“My very good friend Miguel,” Roxanne says, “who I haven’t talked to in forever—and so of course I just had to invite him to sit with me!”

“He really won’t have a problem with you bringing a friend on your date?” Megamind asks dryly.

Roxanne rolls her eyes.

“He’d better not,” she says. “Seeing as how he brought his mother.”

Megamind laughs and lets her lead him through the crowd.

* * *

 

The occupants of the janitorial closet watch the two of them walk away arm in arm, and then Ned, in the corner, speaks up.

“It’s happening today.”

Shufty rolls his eyes.

“It is not happening today,” he says, “every time the two of them are in the same room, you say ‘it’s happening today’, but I’m telling you—”

“If it happens today—” Rodriguez begins.

“—it is not happening today!”

“If it happens today,” Rodriguez continues. “can we even count it? I mean, she doesn’t know it’s him.”

Henry, in the corner opposite Ned, snorts.

“Oh, she knows,” he says, “didn’t you see the way she was looking at him?”

“She knows,” Ned agrees, “and it’s happening today.”

“It is not—”

“Put me down,” Ned says firmly, “in the book for today.”

Shufty shakes his head, but takes out the notebook—not the one he uses for stadium bets, the other notebook—and makes a mark next to Ned’s name on today’s date.

“Anyone else?” he asks.

There is a rough chorus of assent.

“You, too, Tom?” Shifty says, “Well, it’s your money. You know the drill, gentlemen, fifty bucks each, into the pot—but I’m telling you, it’s gonna take two people who are as clueless as the Boss and Miss Ritchi at least six more months before they manage to get together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...to be continued.
> 
> The Metro City Wolverines are a fictional MLB National League team. In reality, Michigan only has an American League team: the Detroit Tigers. Michigan did have a National League team once, and they were called the Wolverines, but they were also located in Detroit, and the team disbanded after 1888.
> 
> In this fic’s alternate version of history, the Wolverines did not disband, but moved cities instead, becoming the Metro City Wolverines.


	2. Chapter 2

Megamind turns out to be—rather predictably, but completely adorably—very enthusiastic about baseball.

He looks a bit wary when Roxanne ‘introduces’ him to Wayne and Wayne’s mother, and for a few minutes after they sit down (with Wayne between Roxanne and his mother, and Megamind on Roxanne’s other side) he watches Wayne carefully out of the corner of his eyes.

But Wayne is engrossed in his phone—either texting someone or playing a game—and his mother seems blandly uninterested in ‘Roxanne’s friend Miguel’, and then the game starts and Megamind seems to forget their presence.

The team they’re playing, the Louisville Eclipse, is, as Megamind pointed out when she made the bet, the best ranked team in the league, and they don’t seem particularly worried about getting ahead early against the notoriously unimpressive Wolverines. They go to bat with a lazy sort of confidence that makes Roxanne scowl (out of the corner of her eye, she sees Megamind’s jaw clench; he clearly feels the same).

The Wolverines’ pitcher—Carlos Rodrigo—gets into a jam. Two singles and then a walk. Another walk and then a run scores.

Roxanne makes a low noise of frustration and Megamind leans forward tensely in his seat as the next batter comes to the plate.

Rodrigo throws several times to first, trying to keep the runner close to the bag—possibly also nervous about the batter, who is a big hitter. The fans start getting restless and he pitches.

One ball. Two balls. A strike. Ball three.

“Come on, Rodrigo, come on,” Roxanne moans under her breath.

“Don’t you walk him; don’t you dare,” Megamind says, low and fast, his eyes fixed on the pitcher’s mound.

Rodrigo—doesn’t walk him. He throws a beautifully nasty breaking ball and the hitter grounds into a double play. Another run scores, but now there’s two outs.

Megamind and Roxanne both clap and Wayne looks up from his phone.

“Wait—why are you cheering? They’re behind,” he says, looking mildly disgusted.

Roxanne meets Megamind’s eyes and makes an expressive face. She sees Megamind suppressing a smile as they both turn back to the game.

The double play seems to have given Rodrigo confidence; he strikes out the next batter in three pitches.

The Wolverines come up to bat.

Their first two batters strike out quickly. The third batter, Leo Alvarez, hits two foul balls and then—

The ball cracks off the bat: that perfect, ringing sound that means a solid hit.

There’s an audible intake of breath from the crowd; Roxanne finds herself on her feet, Megamind beside her—

“—get out get out get out get out—!” Megamind is saying.

“—yes yes YES!” Roxanne says, as the ball sails over the wall.

The Wolverines player who hit the home run stares in what appears to be astonishment before starting around the bases.

Roxanne turns to Megamind as he turns to her, his borrowed face grinning widely, his green eyes sparkling.

“Did you see that?!” Roxanne says, too excited to think twice about grabbing his shoulders and shaking them. “Did you see?!”

Megamind laughs and nods wildly.

“See what?” Wayne asks, from behind Roxanne.

Roxanne ignores him.

The next batter for the Wolverines hits a pop fly to end the inning, but Roxanne is still smiling as she sits back down.

She smacks Megamind’s arm to get his attention.

“I told you,” she says, “I told you we could do this!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Miss Ritchi,” Megamind tells her (but he’s fighting a smile as he says it; she can tell), “we’re still down by one.”

“We can do this,” Roxanne says, “we are going to win this; just watch.”

The Wolverines tie it up in the second inning—a single that turns into a triple when one of the Eclipse’s players fumbles the ball, and then a sacrifice bunt that sends the runner home. Roxanne shouts and claps until her palms hurt and Megamind puts two fingers in his mouth and whistles.

(Wayne’s mother looks a little embarrassed to be seen with them. Wayne sinks down in his seat and gives Roxanne an appalled look.)

Nobody scores in the third inning, but there’s a feeling of excitement crackling through the crowd. All through the stadium, fans are leaning forward in their seats, cheering when something goes well for the Wolverines, groaning when something goes wrong. The wave goes around the stadium several times, a slow clap begins and then morphs into frenzied cheering, and when Leo Alvarez comes to bat in the fourth, the crowd is chanting his name.

He doesn’t hit another home run, but he does hit a ground rules double that sends the batter on third home, and just like that, the Wolverines are ahead.

The Eclipse seem shaken by this; they make a couple of bad errors in the fourth, and the Wolverines end the inning ahead by two.

The fifth inning doesn’t go quite as easy; the Eclipse seem to have gotten back in their stride and at one point, with the bases loaded, one of their players tries to steal home. But Rodrigo throws to home plate, getting the runner out and ending the inning.

When Rodrigo makes the throw to the home, Roxanne gasps and reaches out blindly, and it’s only after the runner is called out that she realizes she’s grabbed Megamind’s hand, that their fingers are tangled together, his gripping hers just as tightly.

She doesn’t let go. Megamind takes a sharp breath, his hand jerking in hers and Roxanne sneaks a look at him. His eyes are wide and his lips are parted and he’s staring at their joined hands. She pretends not to notice, her heart pounding even harder than it was during the throw to the plate—waiting to see what he’ll do. Waiting and—hoping—and—

Megamind’s grip on her hand goes slack and her stomach drops, thinking that he’s going to pull away, but—

His fingers tighten around hers again.

When, after a few breathless, giddy moments, Roxanne looks over at Megamind again, his borrowed face is blushing and his eyes are fixed on the ball diamond. Roxanne bites the inside of her cheek to hold back an elated smile—he’s holding her hand! On purpose!—and turns to look out at the game, too.

The Eclipse score in the sixth, but so do the Wolverines, and the inning ends with a score of 3-2 Wolverines.

(Megamind holds Roxanne’s hand through the entire inning.)

The first half of the seventh inning goes fast—three up; three down.

Roxanne has to let go of Megamind’s hand for the seventh inning stretch as both of them get to their feet.

Megamind brings his hands over his head and arches his back, and the hoodie he’s wearing rides up, showing a strip of skin between it and his jeans. Roxanne bites her lip, wishing that little strip of skin was the right color, the real color of his skin.

Is he actually wearing that outfit? Or is he dressed in his usual clothes beneath the disguise?

Damn it, it’s not fair, Roxanne thinks. She wants to see him, wants to see his expressions play across his real face, wants to see him dressed in that sweatshirt and jeans. ‘Miguel’s’ face is good looking enough, but it isn’t Megamind’s, and it’s Megamind she wants.

(Did he mean anything, when he held her hand like that? He’d seemed to respond to her flirting earlier, but that might just have been him keeping up his pretended persona.)

Roxanne frowns and rolls her shoulders, arches her neck, bending it from side to side.

(Her eyes are closed, so she doesn’t see the expression on Megamind’s borrowed face when she does that, doesn’t see his cheeks flush and his eyes go wide, doesn’t see him stare at her and bite his lip, doesn’t see him tear his gaze away.)

She opens her eyes and looks over at Wayne and his mother. Wayne is still sitting down, still playing on his phone—of course he’s not stiff, even after sitting in stadium seats for this long. Lady Scott is standing, but she has her handbag in her hands and she’s looking around the stadium with a bland, absent smile on her face, looking far too fresh and poised to do anything as ungenteel as stretch.

The opening notes of Take Me Out to the Ballgame begin. Wayne’s mother sits back down. Wayne doesn’t seem to notice at all. Roxanne, seized by the same sort of sudden impulse that caused her to drag Megamind back to the seats with her in the first place, leans against him and throws her arm around his shoulder (he hasn’t made himself any taller in this disguise; it’s easy to do). Megamind goes still for a moment, but then he wraps his arm around her waist.

Roxanne grins (she is going to take what she can; even if it might not mean anything, and she is going to enjoy it, damn it). The two of them stand like that and sing along to Take Me Out, loud and unrestrained and unapologetically off-key.

When they sit again, Wayne gives her an admonishing look before going back to his phone. He’s shifted in his seat so that he’s as far away from her as possible, as if she’s an embarrassment.

Roxanne feels her face go hot. It is a baseball game; you’re supposed to act like this! She glances over at Megamind, wondering if she can get away with taking his hand again, but his hands are both on his knees, his fingers curled around the edges of his sleeves. Roxanne’s stomach drops and she looks away.

When the Wolverines’ first batter comes to the plate, she yells for him loudly, but a bit of the fun has gone out of the game for her.

The Eclipse tie it up in the seventh.

* * *

 

Megamind glances at Roxanne out of the corner of his eyes yet again, and yet again tells himself that he needs to stop. She’s looking at the players; she’s not looking at him, but one of these times, she might happen to catch him staring at her, and then what will she think?

Of course it—it wouldn’t be as bad as it could be, even if she does catch him staring. She thinks he’s Miguel-the-bookie; she doesn’t know that it’s Megamind sitting beside her, sneaking glances at her whenever he can.

And surely Roxanne is used to being stared at, used to being admired, and Miguel-the-bookie certainly has a freer rein to be—openly admiring—of Roxanne—than the creepy alien supervillain who kidnaps her all the time.

But.

That still doesn’t mean that it’s polite to stare, and he is the creepy alien super villain who kidnaps her all the time, so he doesn’t—he doesn’t really have the right to—to look at her like that.

Megamind glances at her again and wonders once more why she asked him—or, well, Miguel-the-bookie—to come back to her seats and watch the game with her. Is she trying to make her boyfriend jealous? If so, Megamind thinks, it doesn’t appear to be working. Metro Man is still looking at his phone, oblivious to the game, and to Roxanne, seated beside him. Megamind has always had a low opinion of Metro Man, but he would never have thought he would be so—entirely inattentive to Roxanne. Doesn’t he have any conception of how lucky he is?! He has Roxanne and he’s just—just sitting there, staring at his phone like a—like a lump!

Megamind doesn’t even blame Roxanne for going to such drastic measures as to bring him back to the seats with her.

But Metro Man is just—he doesn’t notice anything.

For god’s sake, Roxanne grabbed Megamind’s hand and held it for an inning and a half.

She let go when the seventh inning stretch came—Megamind isn’t sure if she just then realized what she was doing and immediately stopped as a consequence, or if she’d been holding his hand deliberately and had given up on her boyfriend ever noticing.

Being ‘Miguel’ complicates things; if Megamind had been visibly himself, he would have known what to think when Roxanne took her hand away (snatching it back in horror and disgust) but—Miguel is human, and—fairly attractive, by Megamind’s judgement. So it’s possible that she’s trying to make Metro Man jealous or—

It’s—possible that she’s attracted to him? To Miguel? To Megamind-as-Miguel?

Ohhh this is making his head spin, and her—intoxicating nearness isn’t helping; is it really possible that Roxanne could ever be—even the slightest bit—attracted to his personality?

Surely to god, that’s not possible; his personality is even less appealing than his physical form but—but she’d seemed to be flirting, earlier, when they made the bet, and she’d asked him to sit with her, and she’d thrown her arm around him while they sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and she’d held his hand—

No, no, no. It hadn’t meant anything (don’t get your hopes up).

God, he wants to hold her hand again. He nearly died when she did it the first time.

He keeps his hands balled into fists on his knees. he isn’t going to make her uncomfortable by presuming—yes, it had probably been a mistake; he isn’t going to be a—a jerk about it. He isn’t going to make her uncomfortable.

Megamind fixes his eyes on the field—stop looking at her!—and tells himself to concentrate on the game.

This is—this is actually a good game; nothing short of miraculous, really; the Wolverines were ahead just a few innings ago, and even now, they’re tied with the best team in the league—

As soon as he thinks that, the Eclipse score a home run.

Megamind makes a low, unsurprised sound of dismay.

Roxanne, beside him, is cursing fluently—wow; he has never heard her use language like that before; it is insanely attractive, and he takes a moment, even in his misery, to look over at her face.

She’s leaning forward, eyebrows drawn together, lips and cheeks flushed with anger, eyes glinting dangerously—god, she’s so beautiful it doesn’t seem possible, somehow.

“—language, Roxy!” Metro Man says in a scandalized tone.

Roxanne shoots him a filthy glance and growls, low in her throat (Megamind shivers a little).

She turns a speaking look to Megamind, anger still blazing in her face.

“It’s not over,” she says. “It’s not.”

Megamind’s breath catches at the—the force of her insistence; it seems to crackle off of her, like electricity.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the next Eclipse batter hit another home run.

Roxanne sees it, too, and curses again.

Metro Man says her name once more in an admonishing way, but she ignores him and turns again to Megamind.

“I did warn you not to get your hopes up, Miss Ritchi,” he says, and there’s nothing taunting in his tone, nothing but resignation. “You’ll only ever end up disappointed, that way.”

Roxanne makes a frustrated sound.

“You’re wrong,” she says, “we are going to win. Just watch us. Just watch.”

The absolute—shining certainty of her—

Megamind finds that he cannot reply.

The Wolverines change out their pitcher. Roxanne leans forward in her seat; Metro Man shifts in his. Lady Scott stands.

“I think I’m going to go stretch my legs with a walk,” she says, “Roxanne, would you care to join me?”

“What? Oh—no. Thanks,” Roxanne says.

Megamind sees Lady Scott give Roxanne a glance that is almost sharp. And then her gaze settles on him. She smiles sweetly.

“Would you come along and keep me company—Miguel, was it?" she says.

Megamind, of course, knows exactly what she’s trying to do: get rid of the girlfriend’s objectionable friend so that the son can have a nice romantic moment. Unless she wants to take her son’s cellphone along with them, though, that’s still not going to help things along—

“Sorry,” Roxanne says, reaching out to put her hand on Megamind’s wrist, as if to hold him in place.

She smiles at Lady Scott.

“Miguel and I have a bet going,” she says.

She turns to Megamind.

“Don’t you be thinking you can slip off without paying up,” she says, her voice light, but with something pointed beneath it.

“—wouldn’t dream of it,” Megamind says, and gives her the best smirk he can manage under the circumstances—the circumstances of having Roxanne’s hand on his wrist.

(She’s probably just worried he’s going to leave without seeing this thing through; she’s probably still clinging to the slim hope that the Wolverines can actually win this game. But she has her hand on his wrist and she’s looking at him like she wants him to stay, and that’s so much more than Megamind ever thought he’d get.)

“I can go with you, Mom—“ Metro Man says, half-rising from his seat.

“Oh!” Lady Scott gives a tinkling laugh. “No, no; that’s all right, Wayne, darling. You stay here with your girlfriend.”

She puts a slight stress on the word girlfriend; Megamind wonders who’s benefit that’s meant to be for: his? To remind him that Roxanne’s taken? Roxanne’s? She still has her hand on his wrist. Metro Man’s? Maybe she’s trying to remind her son of his boyfriendly duties.

Or maybe she’s trying to remind them all how they’re supposed to be behaving.

Megamind does not give a single solitary damn. Roxanne has her hand on his wrist, and even if Metro Man suddenly comes to his senses and pummels Megamind into the ground, this will have been more than worth it.

Roxanne, sadly, removes her hand from his wrist at that moment.

Well.

Still worth it.

* * *

 

A well-dressed lady passes Shufty and the others, walking into the inside of the stadium, but Shufty barely notices, because the popcorn vendor he bribed earlier is coming up the stairs, too.

The bookies gather eagerly around the girl.

“Well?" Ned asks excitedly.

“Nothing definite, but they held hands in the sixth,” the girl says.

“What, with her boyfriend right there?” Shufty asks, a little shocked.

Damn, but the boss has ice water in his veins; maybe this is happening today; maybe he should have put himself down for today, too—

The girl makes a rude sound.

“Like he’d notice,” she says scornfully. “He’s been staring at his phone this whole time; he’s barely even looked at her or the game. I don’t blame her; your friend is much hotter, anyway.”

“Told you,” Ned says.

Henry nods, looking smug.

Shufty rolls his eyes.

“Remember, we don't have anything definite yet,” he tells them.

“And she needs to know that it’s him,” Tom points out helpfully.

“Pretty sure she knows who he is,” the popcorn girl points out, giving Tom a weird look. “They’re sitting right next to each other.”

Shufty gives Tom a warning glare.

“She knows,” Henry says.

Shufty gives him a warning glare, too. There isn’t any proof that she knows, and he can’t call the thing without proof—

“You want me to see if I can get them a little time alone?” the popcorn girl asks eagerly. “I have a friend who sells beer; she could spill one on Metro—”

“No, no, no!” Shufty says firmly, when the others look ready to take her up on the offer. “This is a bet! No tipping the odds!”

“Oh, come on, Shufty!”

“Give them a chance!”

“The Boss’d be so happy!”

Shufty wavers.

“You could put yourself down for today, too,” Ned points out with a crafty look, “and then let us help things along.”

Shufty wavers even harder.

“Come on, Shufty!” Tom says.

“Come on, Shufty!” Henry says.

“Yeah, come on, Shufty,” says the popcorn girl.

Shufty gives her a look meant to quell her; she grins cheekily at him.

“All right, fine!” he says, throwing his hands up in the air. It would make the boss happy. Shufty’s always been a soft-touch.

(And holding hands in front of her boyfriend sounds pretty serious.)

He gets out the book.

“I’m putting myself down,” he declares, “for today.”

There is a collective chorus of joyful exclamations and a fair bit of back-slapping.

“Good,” says the popcorn girl, still grinning at him. “You can put me down, too.”

“Put you—you don’t even know what you’re betting on!” Shufty says, outraged.

“Of course I do. We’re betting on your boss stealing Roxanne Ritchi away from her boring boyfriend,” the popcorn girl says. “And if you want my help, you’re going to put me down, too. Priya Khatri.”

“But—!”

“That’s Khatri with an H after the K,” Priya says serenely.

Shufty glares at her, but he’s already put his own name down in the book for today, so he does need this girl, unfortunately.

“Fifty bucks, then,” he says with bad grace.

Priya digs out twenty-five dollars and hands it to him.

“I’ll get the other half from Mia when I tell her to spill the beer,” she says, and sails off, still looking very pleased with herself.

Shufty grinds his teeth.

This had better be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...to be continued.
> 
> writing this chapter took a lot longer than I expected; turns out writing a baseball game is quite difficult for me! I got really blocked because of it at one point. But! Here it is, at last!
> 
> The Louisville Eclipse were a real major league baseball team that played in the National League, though their name was changed to the Louisville Colonels after 1894, and they folded after the 1899 season. In this ‘verse, I have them continuing to play, and switching back to the Eclipse name. Their colors are red and yellow.
> 
> Thank you for all of the reviews; I appreciate them so much. They really mean a lot to me as an author!


	3. Chapter 3

The Wolverines go up to bat in the bottom of the eighth with a sort of desperate determination.

Megamind is leaning forward in his seat, frowning, intent on the game. The first batter gets out on a fly ball. The second batter grounds out, but the third hits a ball that, strictly speaking, should probably just have been a single, but he keeps on running and makes it to second base.

It gives the fans, and the players, a new confidence; the fourth batter hits a single and the runner on second makes it to third.

The Eclipse pitcher checks the runner on first five times, throwing two balls and a strike to the batter in between. When he throws to the first baseman instead of the batter a sixth time, the Wolverines fans, Roxanne and Megamind among them, boo. A foul ball on the next pitch, and the count is two balls, two strikes, with two outs already.

The next pitch, the batter hits a fly ball into the gap between the third baseman and the centerfielder, and the runners go. The third baseman pounces on the ball swiftly, though, and throws it hard to home plate. The catcher gets it, and the runner’s just barely out at home plate.

Megamind’s leg is bouncing when the Eclipse come up to bat in the top of the ninth; Roxanne finds that she’s gripping the armrests of her chair very tightly. Like an omen of disaster, the sky overhead is darkening, clouds moving to block the sun as the day turns overcast.

The Wolverines’ pitcher, though, is on fire this inning, and retires all three batters in just eleven pitches.

The sky is still getting darker, and rain is rumbling in the distance as the Wolverines come up to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

* * *

 

Megamind glances nervously at the sky. Rain is threatening and the disguise watch isn’t waterproof. He didn’t even think to make it waterproof.

—he should very definitely make some excuse to leave. If his disguise fails, it is going to be very bad. Metro Man is on Roxanne’s other side, and Roxanne—

Ohhh evil gods help him, if Roxanne finds out who he really is, he might not live to get pummeled by Metro Man. She held his hand; she’s going to be enraged.

Beside him, Roxanne shifts closer in her seat, until her arm, on their shared armrest, is pressed against his.

…oh who’s he kidding; there’s no way he’s leaving now.

* * *

Their first batter strikes out swinging hard at a fast ball inside, their second is struck out looking, and just like that the Wolverines are down to their final out.

The batter hits a long, long fly ball, that, if there were any justice in the universe, should have been a home run. The left fielder for the Eclipse, though, jumps up and reaches over the wall and snatches it out of the air.

The tied game goes to extra innings.

In the distance, thunder growls.

* * *

"Crab nuggets!"

Wayne jumps suddenly to his feet.

Roxanne feels Megamind flinch beside her, but Wayne isn't looking in his direction at all, is facing the vendor who has just spilled a whole glass of beer in his lap.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sir; I'm so sorry about that," the girl says, trying to wipe him down.

Roxanne raises her eyebrows in amusement as Wayne goes beet red and tries to fend the girl off while not appearing to be fending her off.

"That's--nnnn--that's--quite all right...Citizen, no harm, just--I can--napkins--you--uh--"

"Oh, I feel so bad; your beautiful pants! Here, let me help you--"

"Citizen--"

"Let me just--"

"Citizen--"

"--just get that for--"

"CITIZEN PLEASE!" Wayne yelps, "YourAssistanceIsAppreciatedButUnecessaryThankYou!"

"I've got a towel!" The girl says.

Wayne makes a wordless sound of horror and, under the stares of everyone in their section, ignominiously flees.

The girl looks after him with an expression of...satisfaction? Why would she...?

Megamind gives a choked laugh beside her and Roxanne turns towards him.

He looks at her as though he's afraid she's going to be angry. For a split second, Roxanne tried to look serious, wanting to tease him, but the expression in his wide green eyes has her laughing, too, before she can stop herself.

"Poor Wayne," Roxanne says, laughing.

"Oh, and poor us, being deprived of his presence," Megamind says under his breath, looking up at her through his lashes.

Roxanne smacks him playfully on the arm.

"You're mean," she says, laughing still, "very bad."

"Oh, Miss Ritchi," Megamind murmurs, "you have no idea."

Roxanne looks at him, arching an eyebrow pointedly.

“You sure about that?" she asks.

Megamind tilts his head, looking at her, looking confused and uneasy.

* * *

"Well?" Shufty demands. The whole group of them are crowded together eagerly.

Priya's friend Mia shakes her head. They all groan.

"Nothing definite," she says. "I think she implied she knows, but it’s nothing we could prove."

"I told you all," Shufty says. "How I let you talk me into this--"

"Be patient!" Priya says. "Tom, is Lady Scott still busy?"

"Yeah, the line to the ladies' room's about a mile long," Tom says. "Saw her standing at the back of it."

"Good, good," Priya says. "Now just wait."

Shufty eyes her balefully. Damned optimists.

* * *

 

(The sky grows just a little darker.)

* * *

 

Wayne comes back in the top of the ninth.

He sits down, takes out his phone, and begins texting furiously, his fingers flying as he frowns intently at the little screen.

In a tragic reversal of his beautiful pitching in the last inning, the Wolverines pitcher seems to have gone all to pieces. He hits the first batter in the second pitch. The second batter hits one foul ball out of play, but then the pitcher misses outside three times in a row, throws a pitch that's in the dirt, and walks the second batter.

The crowd shifts restlessly, the fans of the Eclipse booing as the catcher goes out to the mound to talk to the pitcher.

When he gets back to his place behind home plate, it seems like the talk might have done the trick; the first pitch is a strike.

Sadly, though, it doesn't last; the next pitch is low, the pitch after that high. Another pitch is high, and the count is three balls, one strike.

The pitcher stands tensely on the mound, rolling the ball between his fingers.

Roxanne hears Megamind take a deep breath and then hold it--

The pitch--a hesitation on the part of the umpire—but it's called a strike.

The pitcher throws and the ball is fouled back out of play.

Full pitch count: three balls, two strikes.

Another ball founded back out of play. And then another and then--

A walk. The crowd groans.

The bases are loaded now, and the Wolverines’ coach goes out to the pitcher’s mound to take him out of the game.

The sound of Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love starts up, the sign that the Kiss Cam is about to begin during the dead time of the pitching change.

An old couple comes up first on the big screen. The white-haired old lady points excitedly at the screen, then turns to give a quick kiss to her husband. A couple of young women are the next couple, one in a Wolverines shirts, the other in a red Eclipse ball cap. The one in the Wolverines shirt gives her girlfriend a kiss and steals her girlfriend’s hat while she's distracted. There's a chorus of laughter and cheers.

Roxanne smiles and stretches her legs out, stretches her hands towards her feet.

It's while she's mid-stretch that the Kiss Cam moves to her and Wayne.

It gives her an unpleasant jolt, seeing herself up on the screen; she straightens up quickly.

Oh no; why? Why did they have to pick her and Wayne out of the crowd?

(Metro Man and his famous reporter girlfriend; she should have been expecting this)

She smiles; an automatic reaction to knowing she's on camera, grits her teeth, and turns towards Wayne. Get this over with quickly, she thinks.

(Megamind is right there beside her and she wants to scream with frustration.)

Wayne, intent on his phone, hasn't even noticed that they're on the big screen.

She taps him on the arm and he grunts but doesn't look up.

"Wayne. Wayne," she hisses. "We're on the Kiss Cam."

He does look up at that, looks up and gives her a look of dismay.

And shakes his head mutely.

"Wayne--"

"It's Metro Man!" somebody shouts.

"Roxanne Ritchi!" Someone else calls.

"--just give me a quick peck on the cheek," Roxanne says in an undertone, mortified by now.

The entire stadium is staring, more people are shouting their names.

“Kiss her!”

“Kiss for luck!”

“For luck; kiss for luck!”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

"No," Wayne says, making a face almost of disgust, and okay, now Roxanne is mad.

(How dare he embarrass her like this, in front of all these people, in front of--)

Roxanne turns suddenly to Megamind, meets his eyes.

"Do you want to kiss me?" She asks, blindly furious. (Out of the corner of her eye, Roxanne sees the video feed on the screen jerk away from her and Wayne to pan over to her and Megamind.)

"Yes," Megamind says.

That's all Roxanne needs to hear; then she's twisting to face him even more and leaning forward and--

And she's kissing Megamind.

* * *

 

He's kissing Roxanne. Kissing. Roxanne.

Roxanne--

He freezes for a moment when their lips touch, not knowing how to--

And then she tips her head just a little and--

And that's it, he forgets everything, forgets their audience, forgets her superpowered boyfriend sitting not two feet away, forgets it all, forgets everything but her.

She's--

(This is your one chance Megamind the universe has given you this single chance to kiss Roxanne Ritchi. One kiss, just one, so make it as good for her as possible)

Megamind cradles her face gently in his hands and tried to pour everything he feels for her into the kiss, all of the things he's never been able to say, will never be able to say because of who and what he is.

I love you Roxanne you're so brilliant and beautiful and good and I love you completely and entirely I love you I love you I love you

She makes a sound against his mouth and presses closer to him, parts her lips for him and lets him lick into her mouth and sink his fingers in her hair and--

He's breathless and flushed when she pulls away; Roxanne's cheeks are pink, too, and she looks--

She looks very kissed.

Somewhere in the crowd, somebody wolf-whistles.

The consciousness of where he is and what he's doing hits him hard and sudden oh god Metro Man—

* * *

 

On the field, the new pitcher throws the first pitch. The Kiss Cam turns off and the crowd turns its attention to the game.

(oh. oh god she kissed Megamind in front of an entire crowd what was she thinking oh god—)

Roxanne can't bring herself to regret the kiss. That kiss was--Megamind kisses like he does everything, throwing his whole heart and soul into it.

Megamind kisses like he's in love, and his voice, his expression, when she asked if he wanted to kiss her and he said yes.

(Like a man dying of thirst offered water, like he was desperate, like the chance at kissing her was something unimaginably precious and does Megamind--is--can he be--?)

"Roxy," Wayne says in a choked voice. “Embarrassing—“

Roxanne, giddy and just a little dazed, turns to him.

"We're done, right, Wayne?” she blurts out. "We can be done pretending to be together, now, yeah?”

Wayne stares at her, clearly caught off guard. For a moment, he hesitates.

“We--"

“Please,” Roxanne says in an undertone.

Wayne lets out a long breath.

"Yeah," he says, "that would be--" he gives her an awkward smile and scratches the back of his neck. “Sorry; I've kinda been a jerk today. It’s just I've been—uh—well—“ he taps his phone against his knee, “—I’ve been talking to someone."

Roxanne blinks.

"Wait, talking-talking to someone?" She asks.

"Yeah, and I...well I just finally asked him out," Wayne says in a low tone. "And then there was that—“ he waves a hand at the big screen. “—kiss thing—and I couldn’t—right after.”

"Oh. Ohhh," Roxanne says, understanding dawning, "yeah, no, obviously not.”

Beside her, Megamind makes a weak noise of bafflement. Roxanne reaches out without turning and puts her hand on his knee, wanting to make sure he doesn't bolt. He is not just running off after a kiss like that; she has to know if he--if he meant it, if--if Megamind maybe--maybe could feel about her the way she feels about him.

"So?" She says to Wayne. "What did your guy say?"

Wayne gives her a sheepish, pleased smile.

"He said yeah," he says.

"Nice," Roxanne says.

Megamind makes another wordless noise of confusion. Roxanne squeezes his knee and he goes silent and perfectly still.

“Oh—" Wayne says, looking over her shoulder and giving Megamind a reassuring friendly smile. “Oh, right—yeah, no worries, buddy."

Wayne glances at Roxanne's face; she feels herself flush at his speculative expression. He grins, looking over at Megamind again.

"Me and Roxy are just friends, really."

Roxanne glances at Megamind, blushing even harder. He looks stunned, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

"So anyway, I think I'm gonna go ahead and head out," Wayne says, just a little too loud and overly casual. "Find my mother, beat the crowd out. You guys good here, Roxy?"

Roxanne looks back at Wayne; he moves his eyebrows at her suggestively, gesturing with his head at Megamind in a way that is not subtle in any way at all, whatsoever. She rolls her eyes at him, her face positively burning now.

"Yes, Wayne; thank you; goodbye," Roxanne says pointedly and he snickers.

* * *

 

There's a moment of awed silence in their little group after Metro Man moves past Shufty and the others, headed towards the exit.

"We broke up Metro Man and Roxanne Ritchi," Mia says in a voice of amazement.

“Yes, we did,” Priya says, smiling like a satisfied cat with a bowlful of cream.

Shufty thinks he might be warming up to this girl after all.

* * *

Roxanne has her hand on his knee.

Roxanne.

Has her hand.

On his knee.

She has her hand in his knee and she just kissed him—well, kissed Miguel the bookie, anyway—in front of Metro Man and Metro Man was fine with it because apparently they were never actually dating, and Megamind thinks maybe he's died and gone to evil heaven,

Roxanne has her eyes fixed on the field now, like she's avoiding his eyes, and he would think that she's regretting the kiss, but she still has her hand on his knee so that can't be it, right? That can’t be it.

There's a pink flush along her cheekbones--embarrassment? Or--or maybe it's excitement--

Megamind has never regretted not being a bookie more. Not being Miguel. She likes Miguel. Why couldn't he just have been born Miguel?

(Maybe he can just wear the disguise watch forever, yeah that's a good and totally reasonable plan.)

His mind spinning and his lips tingling, Megamind looks blindly out at the field, mentally replaying the kiss in his mind.

The disguise watch...as the first drops of cool rain begin to splatter down onto the crowd, onto his head and arms, a thought about the disguise watch attempts, unsuccessfully, to get his attention.

(Roxanne turning her head just so and pressing her lips against his like—)

The thought about the disguise watch fades into unimportance.

* * *

They've missed the end of the top of the tenth, Roxanne realizes, looking out at the field, and half of the bottom of the tenth.

It's still tied; there's two outs and one runner on second. The Eclipse pitcher is throwing to the fourth Wolverines batter and the runner goes, stealing third base.

The pitch count is two balls and one strike and the batter hits a fly ball that is caught by the center fielder.

In spite of the fact that most of Roxanne's focus is taken up by the fact that she has her hand on Megamind's knee (her hand! on his knee! and he’s letting her!), she joins in the collective groan that the crowd gives at the stranded runner.

(It's really, really unfortunate that Megamind's holographic disguise, however it works, extends to texture as well as visual appearance. When she'd kissed him, she'd wanted to feel the scratch of Megamind's goatee, the smooth shape of his head. She'd wanted to kiss him, not the damn human disguise.)

It's raining now, as they move to the top of the eleventh, the score still tied--light splattering raindrops. The people seated around the two of them keep glancing at Roxanne and Megamind and whispering together, probably speculating at the content of Wayne and Roxanne's last conversation, at the way Wayne left her here.

(The way they were both smiling as he did it is probably giving rise to a lot of confusion, Roxanne thinks wryly.)

The first of the Eclipse batters comes up to the bag and on the first pitch--the first pitch--hits it out of the park.

Roxanne surges to her feet, grabbing at her hair in dismay. Megamind jumps to his feet, too.

"No no no no no," she groans as the ball flies over the fence. "Come on."

Megamind makes a noise of miserable agreement and turns to her, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"That's it, then," he says. "It's over." He gives her a small bitter smile. “I told you not to back the long shot."

"It is not over," Roxanne says forcefully. "We have the entire rest of the inning yet to play!"

"They're going to lose," he says, and he sounds more resigned than anything, never mind their bet. "They always lose. That's how it goes.”

Roxanne opens her mouth to argue and a thought occurs.

(The petition she signed to keep the team colors, all the comments people made at the time about blue being an unlucky color in Metro City, all the comments they’ve made about Megamind, about him always losing.)

"Not this time," she says. "They're not going to lose this time, Meg—Miguel.”

She reaches out and grabs his hand, squeezes it quickly, then lets go to clap as the pitcher gets the second batter out.

The two of them stay standing through all the rest of the top of the eleventh. At first it’s mostly Roxanne cheering, but eventually Megamind joins in as well, whistling loudly and joining her as she claps. Their enthusiasm spreads to the rest of their section; soon they’re all on their feet, shouting loudly for the Wolverines, whistling, and clapping.

It seems to give the pitcher new life; he retires the next two batters on strikes.

By the time the first of the Wolverines goes up to bat in the bottom of the eleventh, nearly the whole crowd is on their feet. The Wolverines players look dazed but determined; they’re obviously still shocked that they’ve come this far, against the best team in the league, shocked at this much enthusiasm coming from their fans.

The first batter gets a single; the second strikes out swinging hard, clearly aiming for a home run. The third batter gets out, too, also swinging, but the fourth is hit by a pitch and walks to first. The fifth is walked—four pitches, all balls, no strikes at all.

It’s raining harder, now, but no one in the stadium crowd looks ready to leave, even when the Eclipse call for a pitching change and play is stalled.

The Eclipse pitcher on the mound doesn’t seem to want to go, ends up arguing with his catcher and his coach. The stadium starts up the music for the Kiss Cam again, probably to cover the awkward moment.

This thing called love, I just can't handle it  
This thing called love, I must get round to it  
I ain't ready

The first couple is a middle-aged pair who give a surprisingly dramatic kiss.

Someone in Roxanne and Megamind’s section—a popcorn vendor?—whistles and then shouts—

“Over here!”

—and gestures wildly at Megamind and Roxanne.

“Yeah!” another voice in the section shouts, waving their arms. “Here, over here!”

“Didn’t they already—?”

Roxanne hears someone ask.

“Yeah, and it worked last time, didn’t it? Got us out of the inning—”

“Kiss for luck!”

“Roxanne Ritchi!”

“Over here!”

“Oh god,” Roxanne mutters as the two of them appear again on the big screen. She turns to Megamind. “Look, I’m really sorry about—”

It is at this, the most inopportune moment, that Megamind’s holographic disguise disappears.

* * *

“—heh—“ Megamind says, unable to do anything but give that stupid, panicked little laugh.

Oh god.

The watch.

The rain.

Oh god oh no.

(oh god it’s like a nightmare everyone staring, everyone seeing him, and Roxanne looking at him with wide eyes and opening her mouth to yell at him for being such a freak, for tricking her and kissing her and—)

“It wasn’t waterproof?” Roxanne blurts out loudly and Megamind blinks at her because

that’s not what he expected her to say and

it almost sounded like she already knew it was him but that can’t

“Oh my god, Megamind,” Roxanne groans. “It’s always the simple stuff with you—”

“—ah?” Megamind says weakly.

(the crowd is still frozen and silent, shocked at his appearance, but soon, he knows, the screaming will start and he’ll have to run because he’s not even wearing his spikes, not wearing his protective suit; he’s in these normal clothes because he wanted to feel like he belonged with these other fans when he went to this game and god why is he so stupid; how could he think—)

“Not waterproof,” Roxanne says scathingly, and then she’s leaning forward and—

—kissing him?

Wait—but—that’s—what—

Oh, but she is very definitely kissing him, one of her hands sliding up to hold his face for a moment, then slipping around to grab the back of his head.

Megamind makes a small, shocked sound and Roxanne parts his lips with her tongue and hooks the fingers of her other hand one of the belt loops of the jeans he’s wearing and pulls him closer.

And Megamind still has no idea why this is happening—why is she kissing him? Roxanne knows it’s him, and she’s still—she’s still—

—but answers suddenly don’t seem anywhere near as important as wrapping his arms around Roxanne and kissing her back.

Roxanne breaks the kiss, both of them gasping, and, from the back of the section, a group of people burst into applause and cheering.

There’s half a second where the whole crowd seems frozen, and then someone in the next section bellows.

“Yeah! Let’s go, blue!”

—and suddenly, impossibly, the rest of the stadium is cheering, too.

“Wait, what’s the date today?” Megamind hears someone a few rows up demand from their seat mate.

“Twenty-eighth, why?”

The first speaker groans.

“Damn it, I had my money on the thirtieth!”

The crowd continues to cheer, Megamind looks around wildly.

Why are they cheering? They can see him! They know it’s him! Why are they cheering for him?!

He looks back at Roxanne, who still has her fingers hooked firmly in his belt loop, as though to keep him from getting away. She’s—

—she’s laughing, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed, and she’s looking at him.

“…you knew it was me?” Megamind says, still not believing it, but unable to come up with any other explanation for—

She bites her lip and gives him a look that actually seems—fond.

“Yeah,” she says. “Yeah, I did.”

“When?!” Megamind demands. “When did you—and how could you possibly figure—”

Roxanne shrugs.

“You said my name,” she says. “And I knew it had to be you.”

Megamind gapes at her. When he said her name? She figured it out when he said her name? That means—that means she knew after the first sentence he said to her as Miguel; that means this whole day, all of the talking and the flirting and the kissing—

That means she always knew it was him.

Roxanne leans forward and kisses him, quick and chaste, almost like it’s a punctuation mark to her statement that she knew it had to be him.

“—oh,” he says, dazedly.

“—so I was kind of wondering if I could take you out sometime, Megamind,” Roxanne says, in a rush.

Megamind stares at her.

She looks back at him, and her eyes seem just a little uncertain, suddenly.

Roxanne just—Roxanne just asked him out on a date.

And she’s looking at him now like she thinks maybe the answer might be no, and that is just unacceptable.

Megamind leans forward and kisses her swiftly.

“Yes,” he says. “Yes, definitely yes.”

Roxanne’s whole face lights up in a smile.

The sound of a bat cracking against a ball makes both of them turn to look at the field, just in time for them to see Leo Alvarez hit a walk-off home run and win the game for the Wolverines.

* * *

Shufty, Tom, Priya, Mia, and all the rest of their group cheer as Leo Alvarez rounds the bases and the Boss leans in to kiss Miss Ritchi once more.

* * *

 

“You know, you still owe me two hundred and forty dollars on that bet,” Roxanne points out later, after he drives her home and walks her to her apartment, after she invites him inside and they kiss on her couch for so long that Megamind loses track of time.

Megamind laughs breathlessly and nods.

* * *

“I don’t get it,” he says later, after they’ve stopped making out and are just lying on her couch together, tangled up with each other.

“Hmm? Don’t get what?”

“I don’t get—I—why in evil heaven did they cheer?”

“You mean after the second kiss?” Roxanne says. “I—well, I think it’s because you were wearing this, honestly.” She hooks a finger in the collar of his blue Wolverines hoodie and pulls him in for a lazy kiss.

“The shirt?” Megamind asks, when she lets him go and leans back. He frowns, still confused. “It’s just a Wolverine’s shirt.”

“Mmhm,” Roxanne makes an affirmative noise. “A Wolverines shirt. You’d clearly risked a lot, going to that game, Megamind. And you weren’t doing it as a supervillain. They could see that. Because you were wearing a Wolverines shirt. You were doing it as a fan.”

“…blue losers have to stick together?” Megamind says.

Roxanne smacks him lightly on the shoulder.

“Fans stick together,” she says. “And we won today, Megamind.”

Megamind smiles at her, slow and amazed and joyful.

“Yes,” he murmurs, leaning in to kiss her again, “yes, I did.”

* * *

When the Wolverines win the World Series later that year, Roxanne and Megamind are right there in the stadium to see it, holding hands and cheering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the lovely comments on the previous chapters! I really appreciate all of them and I hope you all enjoyed the final part of the story!


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